CARS OF THE WORLD

The Aura electric spyder.

The Aura electric spyder has been developed in England.

Since 2013, there has been an organization in England called NVN (Niche Vehicle Network), which brings together developers and manufacturers of exotic vehicles and components for them.

It has government funding, and members include companies such as Ginetta, Ariel, BAC and Westfield.

Last October, with the help of NVN, a consortium of four firms was formed that decided to jointly develop an electric car with a long range. The project was called Aura.

Each participant has its own area of responsibility.

Astheimer Design studio developed the appearance and the general layout of the car, the company Potenza Technology prepared the batteries and electrical engineering (with operating voltage of 500 volts), BAMD Composites designed the body, and the organization Conjure — all on-board electronics.

However, the output is quite peculiar electric car.

The Aura is a compact spyder with a composite body on a space frame.

It has no doors, no roof, and even a windshield: for the direction of air flow over the heads of passengers are responsible deflectors on the nose of the car and just in front of the cockpit.

The rear wheels are covered with fairings.

According to the idea, all this will reduce the aerodynamic drag, although even the calculated value is not given.

The Spyder has rear-wheel drive, with an electric motor from FPT Industrial installed in the rear overhang.

And the entire underbody space from the nose all the way to the rear axle is occupied by a flat traction battery, which is shaped like a boat.

Another battery pack is located in the usual underhood space. The total capacity of two batteries is 88 kW∙h, and it should be enough for 640 km of run.

However, it is not specified according to what cycle the developers have calculated this indicator.

In fact, the production Tesla Model S Long Range with a full-fledged five-seater saloon already has a passport mileage of 663 km on the WLTP cycle.

The developers are also proud of their own software based on the Android Automotive OS.

For example, the electronics is able to calculate the instantaneous range with an error of no more than 0.5%: the self-learning algorithm takes into account the driving style of each user.

Such an accurate forecast should add confidence to those drivers who are afraid of electric cars because of the risk of suddenly being left with an «empty» battery.

The round dashboard is integrated into the steering wheel hub and does not rotate with it, while the media system has a separate vertical 10-inch tablet.

Currently, the Aura Spyder exists only in the form of one prototype, which does not yet know how to drive, but the developers intend to bring the project to an end.

And to further implement their ideas and developments, they are looking for partners in the «big» car industry, including the Chinese one.